A Day Off
by starfreak23
Summary: Neither of the Shimada brothers have had a "brother" for a very long time, but when finally given a chance to try again, Genji is not going to let it go to waste. When Genji comes to Hanzo looking for a bit of help, Hanzo for once doesn't refuse. Perhaps Genji can still fish their old playful banter from within his brother after all these years of Stoicism.


**A/N:** As an older sibling with a younger brother and a similar age gap to the Shimadas, I wanted to touch on the different face you have when you're alone with your younger sibling. I've experienced it and I know a lot of other people that also see that you do change a bit when you're with your younger sibling, whether its a positive or negative change.

I thought Hanzo deserved a positive outlet for once :)

Since he'd arrived at Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Shimada Hanzo hadn't honestly had time to lay in bed for extended periods of time besides those hours he got to sleep. As much as he wanted to, there was never an opportunity since the Watchpoint was so severely short staffed, everyone was constantly pitching in. Even training was interrupted at times when a leak was spotted, or a wire came loose. McCree had begun to joke that Hanzo should count climbing to the only satellite dish that the watchpoint still used should be considered part of his daily workout, considering how often he had to do it.

Today was his first official 'day off'. He had not deemed it necessary, but both Dr. Ziegler and Winston had insisted, citing a contract from 12 years prior that he had not been given to sign in the first place. Nevertheless, he acquiesced, if for nothing than to escape the chatter and boisterous personalities that swamped his mind as of late.

It was a welcome change, finally being able to isolate himself and having a valid excuse for doing so. When he could have been considered a _Ronin_ , he travelled the world for the greater part of 12 years never having to associate with one person or another for longer than a week at a time. Now that Overwatch had found him- now that Genji had found him- he was "part of a team," since socializing was "good for him."

The thought made him grimace and he curled deeper into his mound of blankets and pillows. It had been years since he had let himself indulge in such luxuries as having more than one blanket or pillow, but a trip to a secondhand shop and a hint from his brother, had resulted in 3 more blankets and a second pillow being delivered to his door with a note that read "Welcome to your new home!" in Lena's sped up scrawl including doodles from Lucio, Hana, Genji and McCree.

He was not sentimental, he reminded himself. The note would not end up on display.

He'd placed it gently in his nightstand, so it would be preserved perfectly.

The warmest of the blankets had a tiger print inked on the fur, and as gaudy as it was, it had grown to be his favorite due to the soft texture and the all-encompassing heat it retained. He rarely got 'cold,' but that did not mean he could not appreciate the warmth.

Enjoying this warmth was the reason he allowed himself to groan aloud when there was a buzz at his door. Fumbling for his Comm, he grumbled in his native tongue "Athena, please show me the door," followed by a chesty cough to clear the thickness in his voice.

When his Comm was finally in hand, Athena sent him the footage from his door cam, of Genji picking his teeth in the reflection. That in itself was something he was quite used to, the memory of watching him pick his teeth in the reflections of car windows when they were teenagers caused a short chuckling chuff and a roll of his eyes. The sight he was not used to was Genji without any of his armor. He was dressed casually, an orange sweatshirt with black sweats, the only hint of his cyborg nature still in sight being the small black implants that had been placed at the back of his jaw to graft his lower jaw to the rest of his skull once again. This only being the third time he had seen Genji sans armor, he had to take a moment to marvel at Dr. Ziegler's work. Comparing the Genji he saw now to what he had been shown in photographs and contemplating how, over time, his prosthesis had become more natural looking. How- after his anger had subsided and he had found his inner peace, he had let himself be truly reconstructed, mind, body, and soul.

From what he understood, much of Genji's body was still his own, such as the jaw that had been realigned. But, there would always be parts of him that would be alien to his brother, a reminder of a crime that he did not feel could be forgiven.

He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for longer than he had realized because not long after came the _extremely_ familiar sound of the wailing feline that was his younger brother "Anija!" Held for a good 8 counts before it died down.

The sound made him wince, returning, just for a moment, to his first few hangovers as a young adult and the "aftercare" of a greasy American style breakfast Genji had always insisted on.

His stomach churned.

"Anija, I know you're in there. Athena already ratted you out. Open the door!" He was smiling and laughing, but the whine of a younger sibling would always be heard in his semi-petulant tone.

Muttering curses in Japanese, he slid out of bed and walked to the door, stealing a hair tie from his drawer to put his hair up. He did not open the door "What?"

"Open up!"

"Why?"

He had left his Comm behind on his bed, but he knew the silence meant that Genji had glanced away from the door and shuffled his feet.

"I need your help."

He sighed and pressed his forehead to the door. "I am off duty today."

"I know. This is- this is a brother thing."

The phrase gave him pause. It had been almost 8 months of on and off service to Overwatch before he had made it to Gibraltar. 8 months of losing himself in his work broken up by Genji pleading with him to believe that he was forgiven. When he had arrived in at the Watchpoint, it had scared him how quickly Genji fell back into being- well- Genji. It had started soft, but in time, the playful banter had returned, dragging him into groups insisting excitedly on including him, popping his head into a room to check how he was doing. It had scared him and he had tried to contain it, but even his maddening obsession with playing games returned and it seemed he had no choice but to wait it out. He favored testing Hanzo's reflexes, shouting usually an unintelligible "Think Fast!" before an object was flung in his direction.

This had been a mistake to expose Agents Song and Oxton to, as now they were **both** expected to be able to catch an egg without breaking it, as Hanzo had impossibly accomplished when it had been Genji's turn in the kitchen.

He did not feel as though he deserved the moniker of brother anymore, yet Genji insisted on retaining the honor he had so frivolously abandoned in the wake of an orde-

"Anija?"

Even though it was soft, it snapped him out of the thought process and he sighed once more, keying the door to slide open.

Genji stood less than a foot from where the door had been, eyes immediately locking with his brother's. A look of intense worry crossed his face for a moment, to finally be hidden with a cheeky smile. "You look like shit."

"Oh, thank you for noticing." he bit back, but there was no real heat to the phrase as he stepped aside to let Genji pass into the room. He thanked whatever higher powers that might have possessed him to clean the night before so his only 'mess' was the tangle of sheets on his bed.

Genji turned to regard his brother, shirtless and still in his plaid pajama pants, looking like someone's father- if it was believable that a father could keep himself in such impeccable shape. He pulled a plastic bag from out of the pocket of his sweatshirt and smiled sheepishly.

"It's been a very long time, but I wanted to try it again." He was smiling sheepishly, but there was a glint of amusement in his eyes. "And- well, since you helped me the first time, I thought asking you would be fitting."

Hanzo did not even try to hide the confusion on his face and Genji burst out laughing "My HAIR, Anija," He opened the bag to reveal all the supplies to dye his hair his signature highlighter green.

Another moment of pause came for Hanzo, remembering their first time dying Genji's hair. Hanzo had been 18, Genji had been 15, and they had bleached and dyed and trimmed and combed the boy's hair while Genji sat in a bathtub and played some cheesy American film on his laptop.

Their father had been furious, and rightly so, but the hair had remained, and the memory of the night had been one Genji would bring up for years to come, every time he updated the color to hide roots that grew in black as pitch.

Hanzo smiled gently "Is it that time of the month?" he rose a brow and Genji huffed.

"Ha Ha, very funny. You know, I COULD ask Jesse-" He threatened, but instead of walking out, he walked into Hanzo's bathroom and turned on the light, starting to set things down on his sink.

Hanzo rolled his eyes and stretched, regarding his pants and wondering how devastated he would be if he accidentally got dye on them. In the end, he decided it was inconsequential and stretched as he followed his brother into the miniscule bathroom each room provided. There was a sink, a toilet, and a shower that had just enough room to maneuver once the glass casing was closed.

"Shouldn't we do this in the common bathroom? There would be much more room to maneuver." Hanzo suggested, and Genji began to strip himself of his sweater and sweats, revealing no shirt but heinously pink gym shorts, tossing them back into the room so neither would get damaged with the bleach or dye.

"I thought about that, but no one but Angie has ever seen me with green hair and I thought- why not reprise our first surprise?" He grinned like the fool Hanzo knew him to be, but the roll of his eyes was fond.

"Are you looking for the same wrath in your superiors now as you were then?" he rose a brow as he unpackaged the bleach and slid on his gloves.

"Unlike when I was in Blackwatch, my uniform covers my entire body now, so any markings-" He gestured to his legs, which Hanzo was seeing for the first time, which still had the Green dragon's head peeking out just over his prosthetic knee and disappearing into the shorts. "Or distinguishing features-" he gestured to his hair "Are well hidden."

Hanzo met his eyes again in shock, the tattoo had been something he was certain his brother had lost, even though he had seen him use his dragon in person.

"Yes, my noodle remains, thank you very much," the man snorted "May we focus on the task at hand?"

Big brother mode reactivated, and his shoulders slumped tiredly before he shoved Genji's head back as he did when they were boys, before reaching for the box and reading the instructions. He brought the subject back to a lighter note, understanding a signal when he saw one, and muttered "I hope I don't burn all your hair off. Though, you might be more attractive bald."

He finally let himself grin outright when his brother gawked up at him from his seat and shoved him, eliciting the chuckle that usually remained so far in his chest that it was never heard. The sound their parents had compared with the distant rolling thunder, beside Genji's cackle that sounded like a crack of lightning.

Together, they were a storm, complete and whole. This is how they belonged. This is how they should have been allowed to stay.

It had been so hard to allow himself to enjoy his brother's company, every scar was a wound on his heart, his sins risen from the dead to follow and taunt him. But, in moments like this, it was too easy. Genji brought out the better part of him that he had tried to kill when he'd thought the boy was dead. But here he sat, alive and well almost 11 years later, smiling up at his brother as he had for years before the clan elders split them apart.

Hanzo moved to mix the powder with the peroxide "Have you washed your hair?"

"Nope, I bought the supplies about a week ago, so I knew not to." Genji replied dutifully. "At least my hair is not as long as yours, it would take forever to process"

"Your hair is as black as mine, which means it will take longer to process either way." Hanzo mused, then caught the glint in his brother's eyes "What?"

"Not anymore" Genji almost giggled as he gestured to the wings of grey Hanzo had inherited from their father. He almost looked like his father's clone at this age, only being spared from the creases above his brow and around his eyes and mouth from their mother's perfect skin. Genji looked most like their mother, her nose and cheekbones, as well as the thinner lashes and lips.

Hanzo swatted his hand away and huffed. He grabbed the bowl of bleach and the brush, gesturing to his brother's head. "Is there anything I need to be looking out for?"

"Oh, yeah, there's a button on the back of my head that removes my scalp for better brain access." Genji replied casually, then threw his hands up when Hanzo almost stumbled over "Kidding!" Then he snorted "Angela owes me chocolate that you fell for it though."

Hanzo jerked his brother's head forward to start with the back of his head but asked "Swiss chocolate?"

"Yes…?"

"I demand payment for my services in that particular form."

"Oh, come on, Hanzo! I bought you a Snickers at the _combini_!" Genji whined.

Hanzo chuckled again "You shouldn't have said that you had access to better. Now the Snickers will not be as fulfilling."

Genji groaned but obediently sat still, which was a far better improvement from the first time they had done this. Hanzo had to make Genji put his shirt back on so he would be easier to snatch him back if he moved too far forwards. He would have asked why he also removed his sweatpants, then remembered that his jeans had been ruined when the excess bleach from the bowl spilled in his lap. The memory gave him another reason to smile.

When Hanzo tilted his head up to work on the front and sides of his head, Genji broke the silence to speak again. "You are far too young to let yourself grey."

Hanzo rolled his eyes "Genji, I am hardly a boy anymore."

"Yes, but father had at least hit 40 by the time his hair began to grey. You should dye it back or-" He froze and grinned "Let me help."

"Oh no, the last time I let you help with anything, I almost ended up with my nipple pierced. That ended the reign of helpful Genji." Hanzo soured.

But Genji laughed "Okay, first off, that would have been hot. Like- ask anyone, men and women loved pierced nipples. Second off, I was just going to suggest an undercut."

Hand rose a brow, but kept diligently working "What do you mean by undercut? Also, do you want your eyebrows to match?"

"Yeah definitely, just please don't burn me, I'm delicate." He grinned when Hanzo covered his face to hide a snort, reveling in seeing Hanzo as he was when they were younger even for a moment. "And, I mean we keep the top half long and shave the sides and the back."

Hanzo made a face, finishing and sliding a shower cap on his head before he went to find his Comm and set a timer, indignantly kicking Genji's clothes out of his way. "I could not shave them bare, I would look hideous."

"No, no, not like that. Like-" he thought a moment. "Remember Watanabe-san's hair?"

Hanzo returned and thought for a moment "The guard that had a green eye?"

"Yeah, and the demon tattoo on his back."

Hanzo thought for a moment before nodding "So short on the sides and the back, but long on the top?"

"That way you would keep your long hair but loose the grey, it would make you look ten years younger."

The way Genji spoke of it made him roll his eyes again. "I wouldn't suppose you personally have experience with it?"

"Actually, I do. I had to cut Jesse's hair like that for an undercover mission, and I did it to my own hair for a while I was in Nepal." He smiled proudly up at his brother, looking like an idiot with a shower cap lined with ducks hiding his hair. "While I'm doing it, I could trim the last inch of your hair as well."

Hanzo thought for a moment "How long would it take?"

"Around… thirty minutes?"

"Hm… I will consider it." He finally said and Genji hissed in happy victory.

"It will probably take around an hour for the bleach to set, did you have anything you needed to get done?" The elder Shimada asked as he washed out the bleach bowl and threw out the empty box and wrappers.

"Oh, I was going to show you a movie while we waited." Genji pulled out his Comm and shook it a bit "It's pretty long, so I thought that it might help the time go faster."

Hanzo snapped off the first set of gloves "What film?"

"Well, technically a series of films. I saw them when we were kids, but you never wanted to."

"Are you talking about those films you were obsessed over with the wizards and a ring and a flaming eye?" Hanzo's shoulders relaxed and he looked to his brother in bewilderment.

"Do not-" Genji pointed at his brother as he walked to his bed and stole a blanket to wrap around himself like a toga. "Shame my movie tastes. Tolkien created the only fantasy world I ever enjoyed, both "The Hobbit" and the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogies were MASTERPIECES." He huffed and sat. "Besides, I was not enamored with American movies from the 1940s."

Hanzo's eyes went wide and he squared his shoulders, shocking himself when let slip. "You leave Katherine Hepburn out of this-"

After they finished squabbling like children, Hanzo finally agreed to watch Genji's film, starting at the beginning of the universe. It amused him that the prequel series had been filmed so far after the original series, but he was thankful that the cinematography and prosthesis had not been as cheesy as his mother and father had led him to believe the first few times Genji had asked him to watch it.

Around the time that Radagast the Brown revealed himself to the company, Hanzo pointed out that the bleach seemed to have done its job. Genji kept the film running while he went and washed the bleach from his hair, calling Hanzo back into the bathroom when he was dry and his shorts were back in place.

"Took you long enough. You're enjoying it, aren't you?"

"Nonsense, I simply had to wait for a proper stopping point."

"Mhm." Genji did not seem convinced, but he did not press the issue further.

Hanzo began to put the green dye in the bowl and used a second brush to mix it, already having his gloves on. "This is the worst part."

"What is?" Genji asked, furrowing his brows a bit.

"I have to look at you as a blonde until the green sets in." Hanzo smirked

"Oh, so I'm an ugly blonde?" When Hanzo smirked and nodded, he sputtered "Yeah? Well- you have weird eyebrows."

Hanzo stopped and looked at his brother, thoroughly confused "Genji, we have the same eyebrows."

Genji stared at his brother blankly for a moment in consideration. "Not the point." He quickly tried to amend and Hanzo rolled his eyes as he began to paint his brother's hair green.

"It's going to take around two hours to set if you want it as vibrant as it used to be." Hanzo reminded and Genji nodded

"Sadly, I will have to sit and annoy you until I'm presentable to the public."

"Actually, I was considering your offer of a haircut-" He mused quietly. Looking different would be a greater advantage in the field, specifically so that it would be harder to recognize him from whatever recent photographs were being used to identify him in Japan. "I think I can trust you, but only if you promise you won't mess it up." He ordered sternly.

Genji's voice was softer than usual "I promise, Anija. You'll like it."

There were a few minutes of silence between the two of them, not awkward as it had been when they had been reintroduced to each other, or as it became when they were with the others, but a silence of camaraderie and comfort. Soon the shower cap was reintroduced to Genji's scalp and he sighed "What do you need to cut my hair?"

Genji looked up as if he was amazed Hanzo had actually agreed, and stood "Sit facing the wall? Like, straddle the toilet bowl. Do you have an electric razor?"

Hanzo paused in thought "I have my straight razor and a pair of scissors."

Genji laughed as if the mention of a straight razor made him nervous "Yeah… I am not going to slice your scalp off." Then he turned to address the bedroom rather than his brother "Athena, is McCree awake?"

"He is in his quarters, little Shimada"

The name had Hanzo snorting and burying his face in his folded arms while Genji glared "I'm going to kill him for telling you to call me that. Tell him to bring his razor set and that shit he puts in his beard to Hanzo's room. Tell him it's a fashion emergency."

Hanzo tried to protest but Genji shoved his head to face the wall again "Hush, I am the stylist now."

"I already regret this." Hanzo muttered into the skin of his arms.

When McCree did finally arrive, he sounded bewildered "Are you two okay in there? Genji why-"

But the younger brother snatched the supplies from the Cowboy's hands and all but hissed as he ran into the bedroom again and the door slid shut.

Both brother suppressed child-like giggles when they heard Jesse mutter as he walked away "What on God's green earth-"

Hanzo coughed to break himself out of his laugher "No-" He swallowed "No, we are men, we can't be giggling." He dropped his voice just slightly to mimic their father and Genji did the same.

"Men do not laugh, they smile in bemused silence in pride as others laugh for him." Genji quoted almost perfectly. After a beat they both dissolved into their storm of laugher, the rolling thunder from Hanzo and bolts of lightning from Genji. "What was he even saying?" He asked as he gathered the top half of Hanzo's hair and put it into a top knot above his head, combing the rest out gently.

"I think, to this day, only he would know." Hanzo hummed, closing his eyes and allowing himself to relax before "Wait, should not my hair be wet?"

Genji paused "Uh…. Dunk it in the sink, it'll be quicker." He snorted and Hanzo rolled his eyes. Instead of moving all of Genji's supplies from the sink, he leaned into the shower and used the detachable handle to thoroughly soak his hair, then roughly dried it with a towel.

When he sat back down and Genji began to comb and separate the hair again. "I love working with Shiba Inus" Genji commented and Hanzo rolled his eyes at the wall.

When all the hair was separated and combed, Genji held a strip of hair in one hand and the scissors in the other "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes."

"Positive?"

"Genji-"

"You're not going to get mad at-"

"Genji I don't need any more anxiety- cut my damn hair." Hanzo snapped, already feeling the tightness of regret in his chest.

The sound of hair being cut always made him tense since the last time he cut it had been for such shame- but part of his motivation for allowing his brother to 'assist' him had been to rewrite that memory into something more positive. So, he gripped the back of the toilet like he meant to shatter it and let Genji talk about nonsense to keep him from freaking out.

The weather, Hana and Lucio becoming an official couple, Reinhardt trying to teach both of them how to do the Cha-Cha Slide introducing it as "The Electric Slide of his mother's generation." Before huffing at Jesse's comment that it was a miracle to know someone who was born in 2015.

By the time Genji was shouting over the sound of the electric razor, his body had relaxed, and he had resigned to the decision, almost shocked when Genji switched it off. "Alright, get up and look in the mirror."

Hanzo did as he was told and cocked his head both to the left and to the right. The new weight of his head was interesting, and it was odd for his scalp to feel so cold, but he extended his hand for the razor.

Genji rose a brow and handed it to him, watching him turn it on and trim the jaw line of his beard so that it would blend better. When he turned it off he inspected his face again "I like it." He admitted and Genji whooped for joy. "But now you have to clean up the hair while I clean up the dye."

A long pregnant pause.

"Shit."

After the movie, after Genji's hair was washed and combed out, after he was dressed once again and Hanzo had pulled on clothes that were decent enough to walk around the base in- an outfit almost identical to Genji's with a black sweatshirt and blue sweatpants- they set off to find food that was healthier than the microwave ramen Hanzo had stored in his closet.

Hilariously enough, most of the team happened to be gathered in the mess hall when they walked in. It smelled of Jesse's cheeseburgers and both of their stomachs growled loudly as they froze in the stunned silence of the Mess.

"Genji you look like a carrot" Hana finally said, eliciting a snort from Reinhardt and Lucio as Genji realized he was wearing a bright orange sweatshirt to go with his freshly dyed green hair. A fact that had seemed to slip both of their minds.

He turned to Hanzo "Switch with me" He muttered in Japanese, but Hanzo's eyes shone with a secretive grin and he responded in English, probably a bit louder than was necessary

"I am NOT wearing that monstrosity."

Genji whimpered and deflated, turning to their audience and holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, not my finest moment. But you know what?" He grinned "I got my big brother to dye my hair, and I really feel like myself again."

Jesse and Rein looked at each other and grinned before starting to clap. Hana, Lucio, Mei and Lena all laughed as they joined in, cheering and laughing, congratulating Genji on his "carrot-hood".

After that died down, both of them walked to the kitchen area to make themselves some food. It took everything in Hanzo's power not to jump when the cowboy seemed to come out of nowhere to quietly compliment. "I like what you've done with your hair."

Without his wings of grey, it was very difficult to hide the slight red tinting of his ears in a blush.

"Thank you, McCree." He responded cordially, accidentally putting a little more ketchup on his bun than he intended.

"I mean- not like I didn't like the way it was before. You look mighty fine either way." He murmured and decided to slink out of the room before, Hanzo assumed, either of them made a fool of themselves.

Once he was alone, Hanzo had his slight moment to- as Genji might put it- freak the fuck out. It only took a moment to recompose himself, but he felt that moment to be a moment too long. He loaded some mashed potatoes onto his plate to accompany his abnormally large serving of cheeseburger and made his attempt to slink back to his room, contemplating whether or not he should wait until Genji was available to begin Desolation of Smaug.

Before he could come close to the door, however, Lena Oxton zoomed in front of him "Where you off too, Love?"

He took a breath to respond when Lucio zipped up beside him "Sit with us! We don't bite!"

"Unless you ask!" Hana called out and Lucio laughed

"C'mon, man, you look to good with your fresh cut to hide away on your own."

He turned back towards the table "I would not want to impose-"

Reinhardt laughed "Nonsense, my friend! You are part of our team, you could never impose."

Genji spoke up this time with a grin "Sit between me and Jesse. He's going to tell the story about when he dressed in drag to infiltrate a strip club."

"I was not!" Jesse's eyes were wide, the skin under his freckles pinking as he glared at Genji.

Hana spun to face the cowboy now "You are now!"

Hanzo sighed good naturedly and let himself slide between his brother and his brother's best friend, listening to Jesse sigh and start his story by explaining how "twinky" he was as a kid.

Perhaps being alone was not the height of his happiness. Perhaps he really did need to open back up to his brother as he had today. Perhaps it was not so bad to extend that offer to the team.

As Jesse described the place he had been trying to case, Hanzo softly interjected. "Sounds like the type of place I used to drag Genji out of in our 20s."

Genji blanched "Brother!" As the team rolled in their laughter.

Perhaps he could stand to relax a bit.

It was his day off after all.

 **A/N:** I swear to god I am continuing the works that you guys ACTUALLY want me to continue, Cultural Exchanges is NOT being abandoned, It's just been a bit hard to write because the semester has kind of swallowed me whole. I'm also working on another Overwatch Piece, set in a Steampunk setting, so keep eyes out for that!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING, YOU ARE THE LIGHTS OF MY LIFE!


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